Chapter 258
Chapter 258
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Vassal
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Blazing black flames.
No.
For some contrived reason, anyway, white flames—Dangaleon.
That spirit(?) had once reigned as the master over countless vassals.
Fools blinded by power had eagerly offered themselves up to become a part of it.
By accepting a fragment of those blazing black flames (they had definitely been black back then).
For instance.
The spirit was an expert.
A seasoned veteran in the unfamiliar yet intriguing realm(?) of vassals.
"This is!?"
Dangaleon recognized it immediately.
The anomaly manifesting in Rishir's inner world.
Its true nature.
"Master Rishir's aura has connected to something...!? This is a conduit!?"
A conduit.
It was a phenomenon Dangaleon had experienced each time it took on a new vassal—
And what it signified was always the same.
An aura link.
Through the medium of perfectly identical auras, two distinct beings became connected.
In other words.
A being bearing an aura perfectly identical to Rishir's had been born—one that would be influenced by him.
A vassal.
"No way!? That mongrel who received Master Rishir's aura has become his vassal!?!?"
Dangaleon felt a shock.
Master and vassal.
It wasn't a bond forged merely by exchanging auras.
To force a subject unilaterally into the subservient role of "vassal," a great many conditions had to be met.
It wasn't as simple as, "Oh? You got my aura on you? Guess you're my vassal now~"
If it were, every powerless weakling in the world would already belong to someone.
Thus, Dangaleon couldn't help but be flustered.
"Master Rishir's only action was to bestow his aura on that so-called saint vermin!"
When Rishir had shared his aura with the saint, he hadn't imposed any restrictions or conditions.
There was no reason for her to become his vassal out of gratitude.
The saint herself likely hadn't even imagined pledging herself as a vassal in return.
Yet here it was.
She had somehow become Rishir's vassal.
That absurd "Oh? You got my aura on you? Guess you're my vassal now~" had actually worked.
"M-Master Rishir...!!!"
The spirit had grown fully accustomed to that irrational existence—
But even so, this was bewildering.
Fortuitously, perhaps.
"Ah...!!! As expected!"
After relentlessly analyzing the "conduit," the spirit realized it was imperfect.
Rishir could indeed exert influence over the saint through this conduit.
However—that influence was far from absolute.
The total volume of aura bestowed upon the subject!
Rishir's sway was likely proportional to that amount.
With all doubts resolved, the spirit's next action—
"Ahh, Master Rishir!!! As expected of you, everything was part of your plan!!! And this foolish, innocent one failed to grasp its profound meaning...!!!"
Was reflection.
Reflection on its past misunderstanding(?)?!!
It dated back to when Rishir had shared his aura with the saint.
At the time, Dangaleon had struggled to suppress the boiling emotions within.
It had been displeased.
Some vermin taking Master Rishir's aura without offering anything in return.
And lapping it up as if it were her due!
An enormous amount, enough to meaningfully affect him, no less!
There was a limit to what it could tolerate.
The spirit had wanted nothing more than to incinerate that saint vermin on the spot.
Even if Master Rishir demands no price, shouldn't she offer one of her own accord!?
But.
What could it do?
Everything was according to his benevolent will.
Kraaaah!!! The saint is no mere vermin!!! Spare her, and she'll prove useful someday...—Kraaaah!!!
To accept the vermin's existence, the spirit had boldly attempted to rewire its own thought processes.
And now.
It realized just how foolish those actions had been.
"Of course! Would the wicked—no, wise and cunning—no, sagacious Master Rishir share such vast power out of mere generosity!?"
The spirit recalled.
The schemes of its master that even it occasionally admired.
Schemes that made even it—a "former demon"—marvel with cursed, sorrowful awe!
And so—
The spirit thought of its master's new vassal.
The saint.
As the spirit saw it.
That saint was a greedy pig.
Never satisfied, endlessly demanding power without recompense!
"Even vile demon worshippers offer fitting sacrifices when begging for power!!!"
It was utterly incomprehensible to the spirit.
To ascribe sacred meaning to a pig's actions just because she bore the lowly title of saint!
In that sense—the spirit concluded.
"As expected of Master Rishir!!! You saw through that greedy pig's true nature from the start!!! Surely, you weren't deceived by her paltry name!"
Thus, the demon's reasoning reached a new phase.
"Master Rishir is infinitely merciful to pure souls like myself(?), but merciless to wicked demons!!! Would such a one bestow vast power on that greedy pig without exacting a price!?!?"
In the dead of night, as Rishir slept.
A pale gray fireball blazed fiercely within his inner world.
"Hey, you mute wench!!! Tell me what you think!!!"
The spirit proudly pointed at another spirit.
A purple girl nearby staring vacantly at it.
"..."
The purple girl regarded the spirit with her characteristic emotionless expression.
I have no idea.
"Exactly!!! Even your dim wits can see it's self-evident!!! Of course Master Rishir wouldn't let that greedy pig off the hook!!!"
"..."
The purple girl regarded the spirit with her characteristic emotionless expression.
Then why ask me?
"Perfect!!! My duties for Master Rishir are becoming ever clearer!!!"
The pale gray fireball gathered momentum, about to poll the other spirits.
"No need! On second thought, it'll be fine! I, Dangaleon, second in rank!!! I have no reason to heed you lowly lot!!!"
The pale gray fireball unleashed junior contempt.
Then, it politely rubbed its tiny hands together toward somewhere.
A sand dune spirit grunting as it shaped a sleeping environment identical to Rishir's.
In this inner world brimming with inscrutable auras, preserving their own power was nearly impossible for spirits.
Yet they managed limited conservation through their innate forces.
The sand dune spirit had conserved the most among them.
The pale gray fireball explained its plan to her.
"For that reason, might I borrow your aid, Lady Berbante... er, ma'am!?"
"!!!"
The dune spirit, its brow furrowed fiercely from important work, glared at the pale gray fireball.
"I'm makin' cozy nap time right now!?!?"
"!!!"
The senior-most's lights-out decree!
Before that proclamation of absolute authority, the spirit felt the world go dark!
"Hrm!!!"
But then, the dune spirit pondered, tiny hand on chin.
"!!!"
The anguish pose!
Its brow sharpened even more.
"Fine, Blazey!!! Just this once!!?"
"Oooooh...!!!"
The senior-most assigns night watch!!!
Blaze.
The pale gray fireball intensified its ferocity.
Swirling sandstorm aura bolstered its own.
"This blazing white inferno Dangaleon!!! Shall fulfill its mission without fail!!!"
"We're goin' night-night now!"
Before long, the inner world mirrored Rishir's bedroom perfectly.
A bedroom bathed in soft moonlight through the window.
Thud thud!
The dune spirit patted the bed briskly.
Thud thud. Roll roll.
The spirits bustled onto the bed with their various gaits.
"Ah, roger."
The pale gray fireball astutely lowered its voice and brightness.
Then.
It cautiously approached the "conduit."
To fulfill the mission its master had entrusted in faith!
The full account of the "glowing Rishir" as recounted by the spirit.
Rishir. Shuyen. Tara.
They realized belatedly.
The shimmering Rishir.
A denser "divinity" emanated from him than before.
No.
They had noticed long ago.
The divinity was too vivid to dismiss as imagination.
Yet they had averted their eyes and denied it.
Because they could easily infer its source.
Rishir recalled.
The prayer in which Tara Dorin and he had requested her aura.
The divinity contained within that prayer.
"Ah...!"
Rishir sighed unwittingly.
The truth was now impossible to ignore.
The saint.
The "greedy pig" the spirit spoke of was undoubtedly her.
Shock enveloped them instantly.
"The saint's aura... was plundered...?"
Rishir was stunned that his spirit had stolen the saint's aura.
"The saint... made into a vassal...?"
Tara and Shuyen were stunned that the saint had fallen as someone's vassal.
They recalled the modern saint's aura.
Even in her weakened state, its holiness was unmistakably worthy of the title.
Not even Tara Dorin, the first saint.
Nor transcendent beings commanding hordes of vassals.
Could override her will and claim her as vassal.
"How could that even be possible...?"
Tara and Shuyen looked to Rishir for explanation.
"No, even if you ask me..."
Rishir was just as baffled.
Sharing his entire aura like this was a first.
Who knew it would result in making the saint his vassal.
"Does sharing aura normally turn someone into a vassal like this?"
"If so... she'd have become Tara's vassal ages ago."
Rishir nodded at the fairy's reply.
I see?
Then what is it?
"Rishir. Any peculiarities about your 'rank' we should know?"
The fairy Shuyen spoke then.
"My rank?"
"Yes. Not power rank, but existential rank. Traits proving you've transcended humanity."
"..."
After brief thought, Rishir replied.
"Well, I'm a guardian constellation, for one."
Shuyen and Tara, listening intently, felt something click in their minds.
"Oh, and lately, I became the World Tree's—...mom."
"..."
Is that sentence right?
Shuyen and Tara needed time to cultivate mental flexibility to process it.
"Fine. Let's say that's all possible, for now."
Saint Tara. Fairy Shuyen.
Their thoughts finally aligned with Rishir's after arduous effort.
Tara closed her eyes, deep in thought for a while.
Then, she snapped them open and shouted.
"What kind of nonsense is this!? Stealing the aura from someone in need!?"
Tara's facial muscles twitched.
Having steadily communed with the saint through prayers, she knew.
Her frailty.
And even in that frailty, her noble heart prioritizing others over self-care!
That was why Tara had aided the saint wholeheartedly, without doubt.
Kinship.
She saw her past self in that foolish self-sacrifice for others.
Tara knew how grueling and lonely such a life was.
Thus, she earnestly hoped.
That poor child would not tread the same path—
"Do you know the feelings with which I helped that child!?"
Rishir's spirit.
Its actions trampled all that.
The resolve and efforts Tara had painstakingly upheld—
"And yet... and yet...! To do that to her...! To rob that poor child of such power!!! She won't just fail to save others—she won't even save herself... What do we do, what do we—"
Gasp. Gasp.
Tara's breath came in ragged bursts.
The first saint, who had felt no doubt or fear even in her final sacrificial moment, was swiftly corrupted by profane auras.
—What drivel are you spouting, fool!?
—Pitiful my ass!!! What pitiful soul hoards treasures like a mountain in a barn!?
"...What?"
—Not a barn—an outhouse, perhaps!? Yes! That's more fitting!
"Wh-what are you—"
—That pig has siphoned your aura countless times! Potent power worthy of a vermin! Yet you call it frail? Never questioned the oddity!?
"That's... because she's... sacrificing herself to help others..."
—If so, her fame would have reached Master Rishir!!! Master Rishir!!! Have you heard of this pig!?
Saint Asrania.
Rishir began recalling what he knew of the modern saint.
What surfaced was the conversation from when a high priest visited the Gray Tower.
Rishir had little interest in religion, thus scant knowledge of the saint.
All he knew was that.
"What...?"
Even so, it was more than Tara, who had lived fully isolated from the world.
Dangaleon was right.
Per Tara's claims, the saint performed ceaseless self-sacrifice—and salvation thereby—with the first saint's aura.
Her accumulated feats should have spread across the continent, reaching even Rishir's ears.
Yet.
All Rishir knew of the saint was her shut-in status.
Even if she began pilgrimages after receiving Tara's aura—
No news reaching him was clearly amiss.
Thus.
The implications were plain.
—The pig feigned poverty to covet your power, secretly stockpiling it!
They were stunned by the spirit's depiction of the saint's true power.
The roundabout phrasing conveyed the undeniable truth.
Rishir, surging toward the 7th circle's end.
The saint possessed power surpassing even him.
Utterly unlike the "frailty" Tara described.
"..."
Tara and Shuyen stared at Rishir in astonishment.
Rishir stared down at himself in equal shock.
M-Me?
Dangaleon's claim wasn't entirely wrong.
Originally, Dangaleon was no different from others.
Even for that demon who treated mortals as insects, the title "saint" held meaning.
A greedy saint?
Without Rishir's new perspective opening their minds, Dangaleon wouldn't have suspected her either.
Shuyen and Tara gaped at Rishir in shock.
A schemer who awed even demons!?
"...Yeah. Sure, let's go with that."
Rishir sighed, reluctantly playing along.
Clarifying the misunderstanding(?) could wait—more pressing matters beckoned.
He gazed at Tara.
The true devotee, genuinely frail—
The true "saint."
"Dangaleon. In that hoard she was stockpiling, was Lady Tara's aura clearly present?"
The spirit scrutinized Tara, then nodded.
The truth emerged.
The saint had been diverting the first saint's aura for impure purposes.
As Tara and even Shuyen reeled in confusion.
Rishir spoke steadily.
"Is there a way to take it all?"
"Kyaaaaah!!!"
Early morning.
The faithful rushed to the saint's room at her scream.
"What happened, Saint—...ma'am?"
Barging in, they trailed off unwittingly.
Not because she was still in nightclothes.
The saint's face—
Her benevolent, delicate features were twisted with vicious malice.
Saint Asrania panted in that state.
"..."
Soon, she reverted to her usual self and addressed them.
"Sorry for the fuss. I had a horrific—a truly horrific nightmare..."
Her cold sweat pouring like rain from anxiety looked every bit the tormented dreamer.
"I see."
Yesterday's heresy trial, now this.
The faithful felt unease but bowed out after formalities.
Why!?
Once they left—
Asrania reclaimed her venomous glare and questioned herself.
Why!? Why!? WHY!? Why did it suddenly dwindle!?
She drew out the pouch hidden in her bosom—a necklace embedded with a massive gem.
The "vessel" meticulously concealed in sub-space.
Guide of Dawn.
The power amassed for that grand cause.
The power, nearing its target, had vastly diminished for some reason.
As if robbed by thieves!
What the hell— who could even do this...!
No suspects came to mind, no matter how she racked her brain.
Thus, Asrania fell under "anxiety's" sway.
Fear that the auras might be stolen again anytime.
Fear she might fail her cause.
In the end, anxiety dominated her.
"This... might just be the beginning..."
She muttered in an alien tone.
Her wavering eyes fixed with madness.
Asrania stared straight at the vessel.
The moment she resolved to use all remaining power—
"...!"
Asrania's pupils dilated.
The world abruptly shifted, swallowing her.
Asrania didn't know.
That she had unknowingly become someone's vassal.
That their auras and inner worlds were now linked.
That the sudden pristine white world kidnapping her was another's inner realm.
Then.
A man appeared before Asrania.
"My child..."
Rishir.
He addressed her, aiming for a mystical, profound aura.
Asrania's face crumpled.
Guide of Dawn.
Only one could call her, a member, thus.
Hand of Dawn.
The great being worthy of the name true god.
As she moved to reject—
"...!"
Suddenly, her eyes filled with verdant green.
A colossal tree scattering life.
"The World Tree..."
It had sprouted, guarding the man's back.
The World Tree was the elves' heart.
Mother to all elves.
Yet how could a mere human "possess" it.
Who could?
"...!"
In that instant.
Asrania's eyes widened.
She recalled the Hand of Dawn.
The vast embrace meant to cradle all creation.
Had that great one, known only indirectly till now—
Finally appeared before her?
"My child."
The man repeated.
That was when.
"!!!"
Asrania hurriedly looked down at her hand.
The necklace adorned with a massive gem.
The vessel.
A voice emanated from the essence of power devoted to the Hand of Dawn.
Asrania alternated confused glances between the man and necklace.
Familiar voice and presence.
Unfamiliar man.
The situation was clear.
Yet unavoidable.
The World Tree.
Its immense presence seized her gaze.
Dawn's priestess.
Her eyes wavered.
Ripples from the hurled doubt.
Asrania suddenly wondered.
Can our god even do that?